Our Guinea Keets Are Growing

One night a while back, I went out to the barn to do chores as usual and there, perched on the fence…

were our baby keets!

Don’t they just look so cute sitting there with the big guys?

We were surprised to see them sitting there because the mama guinea always took them out in the tall grass behind the barn each night, while the rest of the flock roosted in the barn as usual. We always worried about her and the keets being outside alone at night without the others to help protect them. It was a mystery to us why she did that rather than finding a comfy spot in some straw in the corner of the barn. I’m sure she had her reasons though.

Unfortunately one night, several days after they hatched, we had a storm with really heavy rain fall. The next morning I went out to do chores and found mama and her babies standing in front of the barn waiting for me to open it up so they could join up with the rest of the group. She was soaking wet, looked worn out and cold. I felt so sorry for her. There were only six babies with her, they were dry and looked like they had been well protected. Sadly, we don’t know what happened to the other six, but we’re thinking they probably drowned or got wet and too cold.

A few days after that, we had another heavy rain and lost two more. Then a couple weeks after that one drowned in the stock tank, and now we only have three. We’ve had some bad luck with them, but on a positive note, the three that are alive are doing great. They’re getting big enough now that they can fend for themselves a little more, so hopefully, these three will continue to grow up and do well.

Here’s a little video… they’re so cute and fun to watch!

I think in the future, if this happens again, I will take all but 3 or 4 babies and either sell them or raise them up in a brooder until they get big enough to fend for themselves. A dozen babies is a lot for one mama to keep track of.

Yes they were! Our guineas went on to hatch another clutch of chicks again late summer and there were 16 of them! We took all but a few and sold them because that was way too many for one mama to keep track of. I think our cats ended up getting the few babies we left with the mama. We’re interested to see if they hatch more this year. Good luck with your guineas, they’re fun and interesting to have around! 🙂 Thank you for visiting!